But I still love real estate as I feel like that's where my roots are so I want to start investing in real estate, specifically rental properties.

We had roots in the sewer lines, and flooding from city street drainage, and poor renters.

However, the things that made me question my future involvement with this unit were possible big expenditures like all the water lines being made of iron (nearing the end of their usable life before cracking on this 1960’s house), a giant tree root running through the center of the crawl space (could disrupt foundation further), or numerous large pine trees either already dead with limbs hanging or leaning over the roof that needs replacing already.

Cast iron, roots in line, earth , etc...They snaked the line and the water is flowing again.This house is set back (like 500ft from the road) so I'm expecting a huge expense once this thing finally does break.What is the community thoughts on putting  service line insurance on it? 

I have since relocated from Manhattan, tested for and received my master plumber’s license here in the city of Newburgh as well as the five boroughs along with the Commonwealth of Massachusetts and I have thrown down my roots firmly and permanently in Newburgh.

Chinatown and Harlem come to mind as being places with real, rooted people, as opposed to a constant swirl of 3 year transients.

And now, I'm excited to explore the world of real estate investing as a way to create a stable and secure future for myself and my family.As a military spouse, I've had to move around a lot, which has made it difficult to put down roots and build the kind of stable future I've always wanted.

It is possible that the sewer backup was not the tenant's fault--for instance, tree roots are a common cause of sewer backups.

Also since I've lived here my whole life, I can say that Pittsburgh was an older population until recent years where the city is now becoming more of a tech town in addition to it's already existent medical roots.

In general, demand is higher, rents are higher, and quality of tenants will be higher.I'm rooting for Watts and like the rest of South LA, it is making progress, but I'd feel a heck a lot safer managing my tenants in MidCity than in Watts.